HE FOUND HIS VOICE BY REACHING OUT TO HELP OTHERS

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Dev Sharma. Read his story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Dev Sharma found his voice. Now, he’s helping others to find theirs.

When his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, it was a hard time for the entire family. Feeling sick and exhausted, Dev’s mom lacked the energy to express her passion for learning. However, Dev decided to help her out. While Dev was overflowing with creativity from an early age, he was particularly introverted in his younger years, lacking the confidence to express himself.

However, he decided to take his creative spirit to the next level and constructed a journal for his mom from cardboard, fabric and paper found around the house. Seeing how his creative endeavor affected his mom for the better, Dev decided to take that artistic spirit outside the home and show the world what he was made of.

In November of 2022, Dev established the Raksha Foundation, an organization that builds community through creativity. While the scope of their work is wide, so is the number of lives they impact. Raksha’s initiatives are diverse, ranging from food and winter clothing drives to their Self-Discovery Program, which helps refugee children learn about future career options through games and activities. Thus far, Raksha’s 450 members have partnered with 27 different organizations from Chicago to India. The various branches of Raksha’s service tree have created a global impact.

While he may be a 17-year-old high school student, Dev isn’t letting his age hold him back. Instead, he’s actively planning for Raksha’s expansion. He hopes to reach new demographics in the future, showing every corner of the world the power of creativity and volunteer work.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

My main drive is to help people understand how even the smallest things on a day-to-day basis can truly impact others. I understand the impact that creativity and art can have on a person. I’m driven to inspire other people to do this so they can see how simple things can impact and shape others. On a global level, I’m driven to expand this so people in different countries can understand how they can leverage their resources and skills to impact others and use creativity to redefine service.

Tell us about your volunteer role with the Raksha Foundation.

I work with a team of around 10 to 12 board members. The main thing we do daily is branch out to different organizations around the Chicago area. We have partnered with many different organizations, including World Relief, which was one of our biggest partnerships in the first year.

We worked with them to branch out through certain drives for different demographics, such as refugees and families dealing with food insecurity around the Chicago area.

Alongside partnerships and outreach, we advertise ourselves, focusing on targeting youth with creative minds. Our main goal right now is to establish ourselves by branching out to different organizations that focus on different demographics and different missions so that we can share our idea of helping youth make a global impact.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

The long-term goal is to branch out to different demographics within the Chicago area and Latin American countries. We do have a connection to Latin American countries through our Lake Forest branch, but I wanted to establish new branches in different countries to build more of a connection. We have established ourselves in India and try to address the needs of small cities there. I want to leverage our branches in Chicago to reach more demographics in Latin America and different countries worldwide.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

The most rewarding part would be the memories we make from our initiatives’ impact. One of those initiatives was the self-discovery program, which helped us make a personal connection with the refugees we tried to help in the Chicagoland area. This program was tailored to helping them understand their different career options through play because we feel that implementing games can help us help youth understand the different complexities of life more thoroughly. We were able to connect with the refugees, and they were able to create a more personal connection with us.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

I understand more about myself. When I was a freshman in high school, I was introverted. I never was able to express myself through my art. I would always use art as a way of having fun or expressing myself within the realms of my own home. Through Raksha, I’ve been able to express myself through art on a global level or with people I work with. This has helped me be more outspoken and confident in myself. This also helps me to reflect that growth on the people I work with and the youth I try to target. Using art to interact with people in need is a great way of helping youth become more confident in themselves.

Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?

By getting into causes that they care about, it can be incredibly impactful. It can help people to see changes within themselves. As I said, I became much more confident and outspoken through the community service I had done. People can grow from volunteering. People need to do community service because it defines them as a person and helps them understand their goals in life. It also helps them to feel really good inside like I usually do whenever I do Raksha.

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?

For organizations like ours, we have this program allowing people to start volunteering through simple card-making. One of our branches has a card-making program where volunteers make cards and send them to hospitalized children or seniors with dementia. My advice on getting into community service is that it could be through simple things you can do at home or within the community.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

People should understand how community service is a way of cherishing every moment and using it to its full potential. We’re not only shaping ourselves but we’re shaping people around us. It can even be done by making small things for others or just interacting with them. Just saying hi or trying to be inclusive of different people in your community can be impactful. Anything can be considered community service when you’re putting your time toward making an impact on other people.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Dev? Find local volunteer opportunities.